Richmond, Calif., to deploy municipal and port video surveillance

Richmond, Calif., is home to a heavy industrial port that will soon be seeing the addition of a video surveillance system by ADT thanks to commitments from the town and funding from the DHS. In addition, the town is also deploying a municipal video survei

Richmond, Calif., is home to a heavy industrial port that will soon be seeing the addition of a video surveillance system by ADT thanks to commitments from the town and funding from the DHS. In addition, the town is also deploying a municipal video survei

Richmond, Calif., is home to a heavy industrial port that will soon be seeing the addition of a video surveillance system by ADT thanks to commitments from the town and funding from the DHS. In addition, the town is also deploying a municipal video survei

Richmond, Calif., has reportedly selected security services firm ADT to design two video surveillance systems: One for the town proper and one for the Port of Richmond, which is located on the San Francisco Bay.

The system for the city is intended to be a deterrent and investigative tool for common crime problems like vandalism, trespassing and dumping. The municipal surveillance system for Richmond, Calif., will use wireless technology so that video can be pushed back to the police station and dispatch center, and it will allow for live monitoring. The second system will be deployed at the Port of Richmond as part of a homeland security initiative.

In total, the two systems will encompass 116 cameras and will cost $4 million as part of the three-year contract with ADT Security Services. Most of the project's focus is on the port (which hosted shipyards for the Navy as far back as World War II, but is now used primarily as a freight port), which would receive 82 of the cameras.

At the core of the systems' design is MESH nodes, which can be configured to provide wireless and redundant video infrastructure. In the future, ADT says the city plans to create a system that would allow video to be pushed straight to law enforcement patrol vehicles, which would allow for remote crime-scene viewing.